The Dragon's End
by phoenixforce50
Summary: The City of Ravnica spans across the whole planet, a bustling metropolis with ten Guild factions. The dragon Niv-Mizzet has found a maze and issued a challenge to the other guilds: whoever can solve the maze shall gain power over all ten guilds. Jace Beleren, a mage who can travel across dimensions known as a Planeswalker, is suspicious of it and decided to investigate.
1. Chapter 1

Presenting: My latest work, my MTG fanfiction. Starring Jace Beleren. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it. I did as much research as possible to make it as close to the real thing as I could.

**Prologue**

The City of Ravnica spans across the whole planet, a bustling metropolis with ten Guilds that each provides a necessary function in Ravnican society. The Guilds are as follows: the Azorius Senate, the lawmakers and judges as well as enforcers of the laws; the Boros Legion, currently led by the angel Aurelia, the Boros are the main military might of Ravnica and occasionally enforce their own militaristic judgement; the House Dimir, working in the shadows, there numbers consist of spies, rogues and other horrors, they do whatever they get paid for, gathering information until the time to strike is right; the Izzet League, brilliant, eccentric inventors with who put maybe just a little too much passion into their work, sometimes laying waste to entire city blocks; the Golgari Swarm, festering in the sewers, the Golgari revere the natural cycles of life and death, and use it to their advantage whilst dealing with Ravnica's dead ; the Gruul Clans, known by the rest of Ravnica as savages living in the untamed wilderness of Ravnica, they have been since divided but the largest clan is led by Borborygmos the Cyclops; the Orzhov Syndicate, who spread corruption and demand heavy payments, provide services and loans but always with strings attached, and death may not always be a sure way to remove your debt; the Cult of Rakdos, who riot all across Ravnica, spreading depravity and mayhem but also provide cheap labour, entertainment and minerals; the Selesnya Conclave, a vast interconnected community always looking for new members, believing the strength of the whole is greater than the individual, also protecting all life; and the Simic Combine, providing most of the medical functions throughout Ravnica, mostly regenerating or even improving lost limbs and protecting the marine life. Like cogs in a machine, each Guild contributes and stabilises society, without one, the balance is lost. But now, the leader of the Izzet, Niv-Mizzet the dracogenius, after his self-imposed exile, has discovered a maze that runs through all of the ten Guilds guildgates and at its source lies a power so great it will provide a means to rule over all Guilds. He proposes a challenge: each guild will send one champion to run the maze (while being slowed by the other Guild's attempts). The Planeswalker Jace Beleren, a mage who can travel across dimensions known as a Planeswalker, has heard of this and is suspicious of the power source and is trying to find a way to it first to see if it is safe…

**Chapter 1**

Jace Beleren looked at the magical representation of the Implicit Maze in front of him. The glowing blue lines that wove through all of Ravnica made sense but he knew that it could not be the route to take; he knew there were Maze Behemoths, large insect-like monsters that killed anything they touched, around halfway. Jace had started working in the Izzet guild because no other guild had technology sophisticated enough to help in his research. Also since the absence of Niv-Mizzet, Ral Zarek had owed Jace a favour and managed to get Jace his own tower to work in.

"Menthon, please reconfigure the scanner and inform me when it has finished calculating another route." said Jace to the wizened-looking Vedalken behind him.

"Yes, master Beleren." Replied Menthon in a bored tone, and he began tapping and twisting buttons and knobs on the table as Jace left the room.

_Nice man, that Menthon. Even so, it's a pity that all Vedalken are like that. Even in the Izzet, they are still dull._

Menthon was a rare Vedalken; he had associated himself with the Izzet League. Though not technically a magewright, he was still shunned by the rest of his race who knew of him, though he didn't mind, he personally found working with the Izzet mages inspirational at times, but strenuous every other time. Granted, their experiments often laid waste to entire city blocks but the city of Ravnica spanned across the whole planet, and they pushed the very boundaries of magic, discovered amazing new concepts and Menthon wanted to be there to discover his own amazing discovery. What it was, he wasn't sure of but he knew that he wanted to. He knew his work with Jace Beleren on the Implicit Maze would make him well renowned Maybe something of his father still lingered in him, he thought. His father was an artificer of renown and often would try to take apart any mechanical device he found and see how it worked, until he opened a bronze bombshell and it exploded. A shatter of glass wrested him from his thoughts, and he followed the sound to investigate.

"Hello? Anyone there? Master Beleren, is that you?" called Menthon down the stairwell

His question was answered with another resounding crash from downstairs. As Menthon descended the twisting staircase to the lower chamber, he wondered whether another rival Izzet mage had loosed some imps into his sleeping chamber again. As Menthon rounded the final corner, there was a flash of black and then, another window breaking and finally, nothing.

Jace had left the building and was already out of earshot when the first window pane shattered. He was already on his way through the Izzet guildgate which led into Ravnica's tenth district, the largest in the city. Feeling infuriated by his lack of success, he took a stroll down Memory lane, a small side street that was rumoured to be home to many Dimir agents. As he walked down, a small grin came to his face; coincidental that the Memory Adept should be walking down memory lane when he can't remember something.

"No, I haven't forgotten, I'm just not looking in the right place." said Jace to himself, remembering his master's cryptic words of wisdom. As he turned out of Memory lane, he passed a group of unsavoury-looking goblins talking amongst themselves._ This was the spot_, thought Jace to himself; _this was the first spot where I found the slabs of stone that told me of the Maze's existence. Maybe I should get another permit to excavate the area for more information. Bah, a stupid notion, the Azorius would ever let anyone actually _do_ something._ Jace was beginning to let his mind wander, and it wandered into the ever open minds of the goblins he walked past. What he heard was enough to make his blood run cold: _"Lyzolda has agreed to the plan, we release the ragemutts into the tower soon, where that Izzet Vedalken is at. Hehehehe! This is going to be glorious! If only Lord Rakdos were here! I'm sure he would love to see an all-out guild war."_

_No, they wouldn't, Rakdos ragemutts? They must be out of- oh, right Rakdos._ Jace, as calmly as he could muster, turned and walked back to the guildgate until he was out of the goblin's sight, then ran as fast as he could. As he got close to the tower, he looked up at the windows; two of them were smashed in.

_Oh no, am I too late? Menthon, I hope you are still alive in there!_ Jace ran through the doorways and halls as fast as he could, without accidently knocking over some dangerous experiment in the process. Jace knew he was ignoring the first rule of Nivix: never run, lest you spill self-replicating congealment acid on yourself, but he didn't care right now. If the Rakdos were going to release ragemutts into his laboratory, he would certainly lose all his information regarding the Implicit Maze and would never find its true secret. Jace wasn't about to let that happen.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

As Jace slammed the door open, he frantically looked from side to side, searching for signs that a flaming mongrel had been through there but, to his infinite relief, there was not. Remembering the windows, he ran to the map reader room to see if Menthon was OK. As he entered, he saw the map generator still going over the data processes, but Menthon was nowhere to be found.

"Menthon, where are you? It's me, Jace. Menthon? Blast it." swore Jace, using a common Izzet curse.

Jace was about to search Nivix with his mind, something he was most hesitant to do due to the, enigmatic quality of the magewrights who inhabited it, when he suddenly heard a low moaning sound coming from behind the table. He circled it to find Menthon, slumped against the table, saliva dripping from the corner of his mouth.

"Menthon? What happ-"started Jace, but as he walked around the table, he saw Menthon's sky blue face and knew that he was either dead or had his mind drained. Jace rushed to his side to check for signs of life, he was relieved to hear a shaky breath escape Menthon's lips. He was slowly muttering something incoherent.

"Menthon, what are you trying to say? Look, if you can hear me, I'm going to enter your mind and see just what happened to you." Jace took a step back, flared his hands wide, placed them on Menthon's face and closed his eyes. When he opened his eyes, they were glowing blue, as were his hands. Jace's consciousness was no longer in his body; he was strolling through the strange vista that was Menthon's mind. When he entered, he had expected something more like the Plane of Mirrodin, covered in flat, metal plates and very orderly, but instead, it looked like the ragemutts had somehow gone through Menthon's mind: everything was in tangle, strands of memory were hanging off each other, intertwined and broken, images and sensations were slowly drifting in the mental winds. Jace looked around until he saw a small blue being. He rushed over to it.

"Menthon! It's me, Jace I'm here to-"Jace stopped suddenly. The blue being turned its large head towards him and burbled.

"Whah?" was all Jace could manage to say as he stared at the baby Vedalken crawl around on all fours. Jace now knew there was no point staying around here anymore. He exited Menthon's mind and slumped to the ground. He was at a loss, what was he to do? The only other person who knew more than he did about the Maze was now as good as dead. _Who could have done this? _thought Jace. He could, certainly, but he obviously didn't. And somehow he doubted that Rakdos would, even if they could. But then he remembered the state of Menthon's mind, how disorderly it had been, how nothing was left but the dregs of his mind. Jace put two and two together: the efficiency of a mind sculpt, the skill of a cutpurse, and the hunger of a vampire. Only one name fit that description.

"Vosk, I take it your mission was a success." came a raspy voice from the hooded figure in the shadows of a structure that was never built,

"Yes master Lazav, I drained that miserable Vedalken dry, he has no memory left of the Maze or of anything at all." replied the deep voice of the vampire Mirko Vosk

"Excellent, as expected of the champion of Duskmantle. Soon, we will have all the information we need to solve the Maze, and then we will show all of Ravnica that House Dimir are the true masterminds, not that pompous dragon, not that infernal sphinx, Isperia and most certainly not that Planeswalker, Jace Beleren!" cried Lazav, his voice echoed throughout Duskmantle. The horrors who heard made various noises in agreement and anticipation.

"Master Lazav, the Vedalken I drained had a lot of information on Beleren, they worked very closely together, and he might go for revenge." said Vosk as the cheering died down.

"Bah, what could he possibly do? No one knows where we even are! And even if he did, we will be long gone by tomorrow. Vosk, prepare yourself. You enter the Maze tonight."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Jace mourned his colleague quietly and quickly, then stood up and sensed around, for even though Mirko Vosk had been and gone, there was still the assumption of the Rakdos ragemutts. He felt the presence of devils near the lower level as well as the ravenous feelings of hunger from the ragemutts. At the base of the stairs, the Rakdos cacklers were just about to let the ragemutts run amok inside the tower.

"Heeheeheehee! I can't wait! This is going to be so fun to watch! Heeheehee!" said one cackler to the other

"Heeheeehee! Yes, open the cages and let out our pets!" said the other.

Just as they were about to open the cages, an angry voice came booming from behind them.

"How about you don't do anything. Ever. Again." said Jace menacingly

The cacklers turned around to see the tall and imposing Planeswalker standing behind them. He looked quite fearsome from below; his glowing eyes beneath his creased brow, his arms crossed with light shining from his hands and the scariest part was; he was smiling.

"Hee, hee, hee?" started one of the cacklers

Jace waved his hand over one of them and a dull look came over it. It blinked and looked around itself, as if it was not sure what is was, let alone where it was.

_I really shouldn't be doing this, I should be controlling my anger. These two are innocent, well; they would have been at this point. But still, all that work, gone, all for nothing!_

At this point, the other cackler had run off down the hallway screaming at the top of its lungs.

_Let it run _thought Jace _it will soon be the cause of its own demise. Not at all my fault._

Sure enough, the little devil had run into a magewright's assistant, who was carrying a huge pile of bits and pieces. The impact caused the pile to tip out of the assistant's arms and fall on the cackler. With a resounding crash, the screaming was silenced. Ral Zarek had just appeared in the guildgate, his clothing slightly singed.

"What was that? Did someone run in the hall again?" said Ral. He looked at the pile the assistant was cleaning up and saw arms and legs underneath

"Who's that?" he asked no-one in particular

"That was a Rakdos Cackler, come to destroy my research on the Maze." said Jace walking down the spiral staircase, dragging the two ragemutts in cages.

"Beleren, I told you when you came in here, if you want to work in Nivix, you're going to have to put up with all kinds of competition, and occasionally sabotage. As I have said countless times, we're not exactly the most popular guild around ever since we started poking around the Undercity . We're like rain: annoying but necessary." said Ral to Jace

"I don't need another one of your strange allusions Zarek. Mirko Vosk has been here, he drained my Vedalken assistant of everything. I have lost most of the information I gathered about the Maze now." said Jace with scorn

"Vosk? In Nivix? Why didn't he show up on the foreign mana detection grid?" said Ral, incredulously

"He's the Dimir champion Zarek, a master of stealth, even to your gadgets. I would have expected you to know even that. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go and contract a vampire hunter." Replied Jace, as he was swallowed by a swirling blue light.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Jace reappeared in a gloomy swamp. In the distance he could see the lights of a small town. He approached them warily, knowing that ghouls liked to lurk in swamps on the plane of Innistrad. He pulled up his hood and entered what appeared to be a local tavern. As he entered, his ears were suddenly bombarded by a cacophony of noise, like one would expect from a room full of adventurers, but instead of the sound of general chatter, it sounded like a huge fight was going on. Jace looked around the room and saw most of the violence was directed to one individual, who was fighting back valiantly with a wooden stake.

_That's my man _thought Jace. His eyes and hands began to glow again and suddenly, the pale-skinned people fighting ceased, unsure of what just happened. Jace walked up to the man who was standing in the middle of a pile of pale corpses, covered in blood.

"You're a vampire hunter, aren't you?" said Jace to the man

"Might be. Was it to ya?" replied the man, wiping his hands on a nearby corpse

"My name is Jace Beleren. I have a job for you."

"Huh, not many peoples looking ta kill vampires these days, not since Sorin-" the man spat at one of the corpses "-came to power."

"I see. What quarrel did these people have with you?"

"People? Are you blind lad? These are monsters, damn bloodsuckers who won't even give ya a second look before suckin' ya dry."

"Fine, I just need your help finding a vampire who sucked my friend dry."

The man sniffed and said "Alrigh', I'll help ya."

"That's it? No payment?" asked Jace, intrigued

"Na, no' yet. After we kill yer vampire ye can pay me. Come on, let's be goin'." The man sheathed his stake and set out towards the door, Jace followed.

"Well, git on wi' it." said the man abruptly

"With what?" asked Jace, puzzled

"Aw, come off it. E'eryone here knows 'bout ya. Tall man in a hooded cloak wi' white lines, that be Jace Beleren the Planeswalker." he said

"Um, ok. How about we just go." said Jace

"Sure, wha'ever." said the man, holding out his arm

Jace took it and asked "By the way, what's your name?"

"Parten, Parten Strongblade." Parten replied as they disappeared into thin air.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"Where are we?" asked Parten as they appeared in a bustling marketplace

"We are in Ravnica, in the Seventh district. It's going to take some time to explain this place and my predicament so I thought we'd take the scenic route." said Jace

"How do you plan to get us anywhere with _that_ in the way?" said Parten, indicating the massively clogged up street

"Damn, gridlock. Come on, we can get to where we need to be quicker by hitching a ride with the Hauler's Collective." said Jace, moving in the direction of an enormous krovod.

Jace walked up to a man standing in front of another group of men all holding ropes to keep the beast under control.

"Hold it steady! It's got at least fifty tons of valuable stock on that back! If it falls, you might lose something else besides your jobs!" cried the man from a safe distance

"Excuse me, but can we rent something to get my friend and I to the tenth district?" asked Jace as he walked up to the man in charge. The man turned around and looked at Jace

"Well, we just got in some big Thrulls but we are still breaking them in, damn Orzhov pontiffs," he added quietly

"Right, well, do you have anything fast?" pressed Jace, anxious to get back

The man stroked his small beard for a minute with a devious look in his eye which Jace missed

"Yeah, I still have a stratozeppelid that'll get you to the tenth district faster than anything else." Said the man

Jace was going to ask how the man had managed to get a stratozeppelid but thought against it.

"We'll take it. How much?" asked Jace, pulling out a coin purse

"I take Alms coins so, 50 for the day ought to do it."

"Alms coins? What are you-" started Jace but was interrupted by the man suddenly

"Oh no! don't worry. It's just that we'll take any form of currency accepted in Ravnica, and since the Seventh is teeming with Orzhov buisinesses, Alms coins are widely accepted here anyway."

"Here you go." Said Jace as he paid the man

"Pleasure doing business with you." The man walked over to a beast that was chained and struggling to get free.

"That thing don' look like it wanna be 'round 'ere." Said Parten

"Don't worry, it will take you to where you need to go." said the man reassuringly.

He reached up to the muzzle and immediately the beast stopped struggling. The man made some gestures to Jace and Parten and the stratozeppelid seemed to understand.

"Here you go. He's all yours." said the man, coming back with reins in his hands. Jace took the reins and he and Parten climbed on its back.

"Yah!" said the man, slapping its leg. The stratozeppelid cried and took off into the sky towards the Tenth district. Jace looked back at Parten who was white as a sheet.

"I'll explain everything on the way." Said Jace

"Wh-wh-wha' kinda mess 'ave ye dragged me inta?!" he stammered

"Don't worry. If we fall, I'll make sure we land safely. " Yelled Jace over the wind

"Tha's no comfort!" yelled Parten


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

As Jace and Parten approached the Tenth district, Jace could see three griffins with blue figures on their backs circling some tall spires

_Oh great. Isperia's skywatch. Better do as they say as to not get caught by the Azorius magistrates._

"Halt! This airspace is restricted. Your mount is unregistered and you are flying at an insufficient altitude to avoid other aerial denizens. You will be taken to the senate where you will be-"began the nearest one as Jace and Parten flew closer, but the stratozeppelid seemed to dislike the griffins and made a strange noise unlike any stratozeppelid. Jace made a surprised noise as the creature bucked and changed shape.

"A shapeshifter! That bastard!" cried Jace as he and Parten fell from their now wingless mount. Parten had completely lost it and was screaming like a mad prophet.

"I'LL NEVER FLY AGAIN! YOU HEAR ME?! NEVER THERE'S NO WAY YOU CAN MAKE ME! NO MATTER HOW NICELY YOU ASK!" he screamed

"Parten! Shut up! I need to get us out of here! I need to concentrate!" yelled Jace

They fell screaming for a few more seconds until their fall ended abruptly with a resonating thump.

"Arrgh! What have you idiots done? You just broke my krasis's back! How is it supposed to fly when its spine is in shatters!?" cried an exceptionally angry Simic mage

"Sorry, sorry. Our ride sort of, broke down." said Jace, motioning to the shapeshifter that had landed in a heap on the street as he painfully got up.

"Well, I suppose that if you let me scavenge it for, ehm bits and pieces, I'm sure I could overlook this incident…" said the elf with a gleam in her eyes

"Well, it's not technically ours but since he tricked us, sure." said Jace with a hint of malice towards the man who had sold him the fake stratozeppelid.

"Thank you. Just imagine what I could do with this beauty. I'll return the favour someday."

"But we crashed onto your, whatever it was. Aren't you mad?" asked Jace, puzzled

"Yes, but with a shapeshifter, I can make something much better than a boring krasis!" the elf squealed with delight and went to go and find a way to move it.

Jace stood there, bewildered, until he remembered something he heard a Firefist captain say to his partner in a bar: "Understand the Simic? That's about as easy as winning a staring contest with a homunculus."

Jace gave a small smile as he shook his head in resignation and continued with Parten, who had now calmed down enough to be spoken to.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

As the pair returned to Nivix, Ral Zarek could be seen directing a pair of Nivix Cyclops to their station at a perimeter.

"And remember, if you do see anyone who's on our watch list, you do have my permission to use deadly force to stop them!" yelled Ral after them.

"Did it really take you this long just to get a defensive perimeter organised? You must be sloppier than I first thought." Said Jace snidely

"Actually, Beleren, the perimeter has already been established. This is a secondary line of protection against anyone else who might attack us, and those Cyclops have some of the best eyesight we've seen." Replied Ral, equally snide

"Fine. This is Parten Strongblade, a vampire hunter to help me track down Vosk."

Parten grunted at this introduction

"If our instruments couldn't find Vosk, what makes you think this man could?" asked Ral, folding his arms and looking at Jace like he was a moron.

"Simple, he has years of experience and isn't under your leadership." replied Jace and walked of the main hall and up to his tower with Parten, leaving Ral fuming

"He really got you there, huh Zareck?" said a goblin electromancer who was assisting with troop assignment.

"Shut up, before I give you 'more power' like you asked for." replied Ral through clenched teeth and lightning sparking around his head. Somewhere, a steam pipe burst.

"I take it ya don' like each other much huh?" said Parten to Jace

"No, I don't know why, but we seem to not go together, like fire and ice I suppose. Listen to me, I sound like him!" said Jace incredulously

"Anyway, this is my laboratory. See what you can find. If I can help, let me know." Said Jace to Parten.

Parten adjusted his cloak and set to work.

"When did the killing happen?" asked Parten

"I'm not sure, about three hours ago I think." Replied Jace

"Where's yer friend then?"

"He's over here. He's had most of his memories drained but he's still alive."

"Firs' case o' this I've ever seen. Here, let me try something." Parten rummaged through his pockets and extracted a vial of black dust.

"What's that?" asked Jace

"Ma own special concoction, made o' vampire essence an' other ingredients, it's almost guaranteed to track a vampire from their las' feeding. It should still work in this situation."

Parten sprinkled the black dust over Menthon. The dust settled over an invisible figure, which then took off through one of the broken windows, leaving a thick trail of dark purple smoke in its wake.

"We need ta follow it. This'll raise the fee, ba the way." Said Parten

"I have an idea, but you're not going to like it." Replied Jace, a little glumly

"Are you mad? The blazekite isn't even big enough for you! It's only been used on faerie test pilots! Cried the wizard through the wind

"Come on, you and I both know that you've been field-testing full sized ones, and that they have been working so far, they just need a good storm to get them going. We really need to get into the air right now and find Mirko Vosk." Said Jace insistently to the wizard

"Well, there's a storm coming up in a minute that we're helping along, and as long as you don't bring me into it when the Azorius catch you. Here, strap yourselves in." said the wizard, bringing out a large two-person harness with two large spherical objects on the back.

"Prepare for take-off in three, two, one, strike!" the wizard brought his hand down while channelling mana and a bolt of magically directed lightning struck the blazekite, and the spheres spun to life. The contraption rose into the air much faster than Parten would have.

"Ya know this is going ta-" yelled Parten over the wind

_"Increase your fee, okay fine but we have to find Vosk!" _replied Jace telepathically

_"I'll speak to you like this so we don't have to yell, just think about what you want to say and I'll hear it." _Jace added

Parten looked around beneath them for a while until he saw the smoke

_"I see it, it's heading this way." _replied Jace as he steered the blazekite towards the thick black line.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

As the smoke trailed over the Tenth district, heading towards a familiar structure.

_"This is the Dinrova building. The trail goes into there." _thought Jace to Parten

_"Wha' is this place fer?"_ thought Parten to Jace

_"I'm not sure, actually. I've only seen this place. I never actually went inside or asked about it. Strange…"_ replied Jace, shaking his head.

Since the smoke trail went inside, Jace and Parten landed the blazekite and entered the building from the front, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. There was a sign outside the building saying: _Welcome to Dimir Public Offices. Not responsible for death or loss of property. Basement off-limits._

_Dimir public offices? Vosk must be hiding inside. _thought Jace

The Dimir public offices consisted of a large hall and tall pillars. Banners with black and blue designs depicting the Dimir guild symbol were plentiful upon the walls. Several desks with various people were scattered orderly among the hallway. One of them looked up at Jace and Parten and after giving them a quick puzzled look.

"Welcome to Dimir public offices. May I be of assistance?"

"Yes, we'd like to speak with whoever's in charge here." said Jace

"I'm sorry, but you'll need an appointment to see-" started the clerk, when Jace suddenly reached forward and grabbed her wrists.

"Don't worry, I already have an appointment. You know that." said Jace, glad he'd put his hood up to conceal his now-glowing eyes

The woman's face went blank and then she smiled.

"Of course you do, how could I forget? This way please sirs." She stood up and led them both through a secret passage through the wall behind her.

"I can' see nothing down 'ere. Where are we goin'?" whispered Parten to Jace

"I don't know where we're going but she is taking us to the Undercity. We'll need to be very careful down there." Replied Jace

"Here we are." The woman indicated a gate with a shade in front of it, flying through its heavy metal bars which blocked their way. The woman walked up and raised a small talisman of unknown shape to the shade. The shade crept forward and seemed to be inspecting it, until it withdrew into the shadows and the gate opened.

"Welcome to the Undercity reaches, a representative will be with you shortly." The woman turned and before Jace could say anything, walked back through the gate and closed it.

"We seem to be near Ubul Sar. I can see the entrance there." Said Jace, pointing to a large gate made of a stone as black as night.

"Wha's tha' in fron' o' it?" asked Parten, pointing to the repulsively disfigured forms in front of the gate.

"Those are the gatekeepers; they guard the entrance to the Undercity so that no-one can interrupt with the Golgari and their rot farms. They're very territorial." As Jace finished talking, a loud high-pitched roar was heard from beneath them which shook the ground.

"Wha' was that?"

"Most likely a Terrus worm. We want to avoid those because they'll almost certainly be followed by Golgari rot farmers. Wait, what is that?" Jace knelt down and looked at the ground, noticing a small trail of purple smoke.

"Tha's my vampire tracking dust. Yer vampire mus' be down 'ere." Said Parten

"Look, it's Vosk! Get down!" hissed Jace, bringing Parten down behind a lump of something that was covered in fungus.

Vosk looked behind him for a second, looked around, then gave up and turned back to the two zombies in front of him. As he floated down, one of them spoke.

"Mirko Vosk, Varolz warned us not to let you in here, he said you'd be trying to get into the Maze."

"Even so, you could not stop me even if you wanted to." Vosk rose up, and flew past both of the zombies too fast to be stopped and went through the gate.

Jace was watching this with Parten and had decided it was time to get out of here. They planeswalked out of Ravnica to pick up some more supplies from Parten's house, then back to Ravnica to Nivix.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

"So, how did your little expedition go? I'll bet it was as fruitless as a Ghoultree, ha!" said Ral to Jace when they appeared back in Nivix

"Ghoultree?! Where?" yelled Parten, looking around furiously

"No Parten. Don't listen to this idiot. He's had one to many shocks to the head, or maybe fireblast, it's the same deal. And no, Zarek, we found Vosk, he's entering the Maze as we speak." Replied Jace

"What?! We must accelerate our plans; we cannot let the Dimir get whatever is at the end of that maze!"

"I'll go and see if the scanner has found a safe route through the maze yet." Said Jace, and he ran up the spiral staircase to his laboratory, with Parten close behind.

Elsewhere, news of Vosk entering the Implicit Maze had spread quickly throughout the black-associated guilds, despite the fact that the Dimir were the best guild for keeping secrets, the Orzhov were the best at exploiting them. The Orzhov sold the information to the agents of most of the other guilds so that now, every guild in Ravnica now knew that they had to send their champion out now.

Selesnya: "Emmara, you are the best choice among us to rise to the dragon's challenge; you will now go and help us spread our faith across Ravnica." Said the dryad Trostani, the voice of Selesnya

"Yes, I will go and I will let none stop me." replied the elf Emmara Tandris, eager to prove herself to the Collective.

Orzhov: "Teysa, you have been with us for a long time, we expect you to complete your mission successfully, otherwise, we may have another use for you which you may not enjoy as much as you do being the Envoy of Ghosts." Said Vuliev of the Obzedat in his terrible hissing voice

"You have helped me realise my full potential within the Orzhov, I would not fail you, in this life or another." replied Teysa. Having lived for hundreds of years, she knew how terrible the Obzedat could be. She went out the gate and prepared for the biggest challenge of her long life.

Simic: "Prime Speaker, I am ready to leave at your command." Said the human merfolk mutant known as Vorel of the Hull Clade

"Good, then you shall now go and we shall overwhelm civilisation and bring it to heel." Replied the leader of the Simic Combine. Zegana had grown this one herself and she was not about to let her good work go to waste.

Gruul: "You go now; we crush other guilds, for we are Gruul! Raaaarrgh!" yelled the enormous Cyclops Borborygmos to the Gruul's champion and chief of the Ghor clan, Ruric Thar, the Unbowed.

"We will crush all who stand in our way," said Ruric

"We will make our enemies run like rats!" said Thar

The ogre rose and, with both heads yelling a battle cry, they headed off into the deepest part of Ravnica's wilderness

Boros: "Tajic, you know what you must do, you cannot allow any who would jeopardise Ravnican society with whatever it is at the end of this maze." said the angel Aurelia

"I will uphold the stability of Ravnican society; for even though I run the maze alone, I fight with the full might of the Legion." Replied Tajic, and he ran out of Sunhome, heading for the Maze's entrance

Azorius: "Isperia, I am grateful for my task, is everything in order for me to do this?" asked Lavinia.

"Yes, I have made sure that for this one brief hour, you are indeed able to travel using whatever method you choose to get through this maze that dragon has found." replied the enormous sphinx Isperia.

"Good, I will be taking a griffin so that I can get there as fast as possible." Lavinia went up to the tallest spire of New Prahv and did exactly as she said she would.

Golgari: "Varolz, the gatekeepers at Ubal Sar were unsuccessful at keeping Vosk out. I want you to go now and stop him." Said Jarad through leathery lips

"I will stop him and complete this maze. Make sure that there is a fresh pile of corpses for me when I return victorious." Said Varolz, the scars on his trollhide looking ominous in the pale light of the Undercity

Rakdos: "Lyzolda, I know that you see fit to rule in Lord Rakdos's stead, but I think you have gone mad with power. Why would you want to answer the call of that overblown dragon?" said an enraged Exava.

"Exava, you are merely a blood witch, you would not know what it is like to have to keep this entire guild from devouring itself. And while I _am _ in charge, you will do what I say, so go out there and seize whatever it is that is at the centre of that maze!"

Back at Nivix, Jace had just reached his scanner and had looked it over

"Yes, yes, yes! This is it! I've found the route! No behemoths, no gliders and no sentinels!"

Jace ran back down the staircase, again with Parten close behind him, still wondering what was going on.

"Zarek, I've found the route through the maze. Is your champion ready to go yet?"

"Yes, I just need to activate it and send it off." replied Zarek, who seemed to be directing something into the main hall, which had now been cleared out.

"Activate it? What do you-" asked Jace but then he saw just what Ral had meant. A huge mass of blue and red mana had just entered the area and was being held together by mizzium.

"This is Melek, the Izzet Paragon. The finest weird ever created. It is capable of sentient thought and even spell replication. All it needs now to get moving is a bit more mana, which we are about to provide. Juzba, are we ready?" asked Ral

"Yes, the gelectrodes are ready to give themselves to power it at your command." Replied the Izzet tinker

"Good, do it now, we haven't a moment to waste."

Two weirds in the shape of a blue bubbles with lightning in them came up to Melek and started to spark. The sparks increased and then they burst, and all of the energy was directed into Melek. Melek stood up and walked down to Ral and Jace.

"Melek, you represent the finest piece of work the Izzet has ever made, you are what every Izzet magewright dreams of: the perfect weird. Now go, and show the other guilds that we are as powerful, if not evermore so, than them! Beleren, give it the map." Said Ral, suddenly turning to Jace

"What?" said Jace in surprise

"Give it the map you made of the maze. Now." Repeated Ral in a threatening tone

"Uhm, no. the map was so that I could go ahead and see what was going on in the maze, not so that you could complete it. Remember?"

"Plans change, now give it the map before I make it take it from you and believe me," thunder cracked nearby "you won't like it if I have to force you."

Melek walked up and also had sparks flying around it.

"No, I'm not giving you this map!"

"Ah Beleren," said Ral, shaking his head "you never did know when to-" suddenly, Ral fell forward, a look of surprise on his face as he hit the floor. Jace looked up to see Parten standing over Ral, wielding his stake with like a club.

"Though' ye could use som' 'elp." He said

"Thanks, come on, we have to get out of here before Melek retaliates or Zarek wakes up."

The pair ran out through the guildgate and out towards Opal Lake.


End file.
